Kalani & Tim taking the boat to our hotel room
Last month was the South & Central Asia Fulbright conference. It was pretty cool -- a week at a swank hotel in Kerala getting to hear about a lot of cool projects.
I got enough data analyzed ahead of time to be able to say something semi-intelligent for my talk, and my talk was on the first full day which meant I could be relaxed and just listen to what everyone else was saying the rest of the time.
I got enough data analyzed ahead of time to be able to say something semi-intelligent for my talk, and my talk was on the first full day which meant I could be relaxed and just listen to what everyone else was saying the rest of the time.
Kekai and Tim on the overnight train
We took the train from Bangalore to Kochi (where the conference was held) based on Vinita (from USIEF)'s advice. It was a little nerve-wracking since when I bought the tickets (6 weeks in advance) the overnight train was sold out and we were put on the waitlist. USIEF insisted that I buy tickets on the day train (12 hours of daylight sitting on a train -- that did NOT sound fun) but luckily, a few days before the scheduled departure we got moved up to confirmed tickets and I was able to cancel the day train for a small fee.
The train was pretty convenient, we left Bangalore at 10pm and arrived in Kochi at 10am the next day. Kekai had never been on an overnight train before and was thrilled with the idea of sleeping on the train. So thrilled that it took awhile for him to calm down enough to actually sleep, but it was good anyway. We were a bit scattered around the cabin but luckily we got people to switch with us and so all ended up in the same berth which was nice.
The only really bad thing about the train wasn't obvious until the next day when Tim showed me his back and arms that were covered by well-over 100 bites. Turns out that the 2AC class is notorious for bed bugs. Since we didn't know that, Tim didn't think twice about taking off his shirt before falling asleep. Not fun.
The train was pretty convenient, we left Bangalore at 10pm and arrived in Kochi at 10am the next day. Kekai had never been on an overnight train before and was thrilled with the idea of sleeping on the train. So thrilled that it took awhile for him to calm down enough to actually sleep, but it was good anyway. We were a bit scattered around the cabin but luckily we got people to switch with us and so all ended up in the same berth which was nice.
The only really bad thing about the train wasn't obvious until the next day when Tim showed me his back and arms that were covered by well-over 100 bites. Turns out that the 2AC class is notorious for bed bugs. Since we didn't know that, Tim didn't think twice about taking off his shirt before falling asleep. Not fun.
So, like I said, the hotel was swank. We had a small suite (sitting room, bedroom, glass-encased bathroom) which was in a tower separated from the rest of the hotel by a river. Yes, a river. The only way to get from our room to the meetings was to take the hotel boat across. it meant you had to start moving with a good amount of spare time (the trip was really fast if the boat were already on your side, but sometimes you had to wait for it to come back). It was quite a ways down the river too, so the boat travel was substantial. Needless to say, the boys loved it.
The conference was also a really cool opportunity to meet (lots!) other Fulbrighters and get an idea of what kind of research is going on. It's so diverse. In addition to most of the science-based sessions, I sat in on sessions on art, film, architecture, etc. And got to talk to all sorts of people during meals and between-session breaks. Also, the age and professional diversity was fun. Everyone from students with only a BA to professionals who've been in the field for decades.